Let's pray together. Our gracious God and loving Heavenly
Father, we thank Thee for giving us the opportunity to fellowship
together like this. We thank Thee for the provision
of this place and those good things which we can enjoy. We
thank Thee for the fellowship of one another and the blessedness
of the time that the Lord's people can share in one another's company,
considering the things of Scripture and of the loveliness of our
Saviour, Jesus Christ. We pray that Thou wilt continue
to be with us. We seek to worship Thee in spirit
and in truth. We seek Thy presence with us.
We seek to be found gathered in Thy name. and we pray that
thy presence will be to our continuing blessing and benefit. Speak to
us this night, we pray, and take glory to thy name in all things.
For Jesus' sake we ask it, amen. One of the most wonderful doctrines
in the whole of Scripture is the teaching of the Church's
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And we do well often to think
about the substitutionary aspect of our Saviour's death at Calvary,
that substitutionary work which he undertook for his people as
he stood for us, as he carried our sin in his own body, and
as he paid our debts to the law and before his father. Quite
properly, we emphasise the Lord's activity in this matter and our
passivity. It is His work. It was the work
which His Father gave Him to do. It's the whole significance
of His declaration on the cross. It is finished. He wasn't saying
that His life was finished. He was saying that His work was
finished. Evidently, his life was not finished. It still continued for a little
while after that upon the cross until he voluntarily gave up
the ghost. And it continued when he rose
again from the dead. But his work was finished, that
great work of redemption, salvation and deliverance for his people. And properly, we emphasize his
activity in that work. And we rejoice in the freeness
of His love towards us, that love which before time caused
him to take upon himself the obligations of our deliverance,
that love which before time identified his people, chose them, selected
them, elected them from amongst the multitude of men and women
in this world to be peculiarly his jewels, his treasure, his
people for whom he would lay down his life. and we rejoice
in the goodness, the blessings that God has given to us as His
church, as those who have faith in Him, as those who are the
beneficiaries of the great work of the triune God, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. The Father choosing a people
in eternity, the Son dying for that people on the cross, the
Holy Spirit upon applying to that people the benefits and
the blessings of Christ's death and giving the gift of faith,
whereby they lay hold upon all the good gifts of God towards
His people. We remind ourselves that when
we say that we are saved by faith, We do not mean that our faith
is the moving cause of our salvation. We see our salvation tracking
back to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved by
His death. We are saved by His blood that
cleanses. We are saved by that righteousness
which flows through the sacrifice that He made. We are saved by
the eternal purpose of God. and our salvation was always
assured and accomplished in time by the death of our Saviour.
Yet the Holy Spirit gives life, and that life, the life that
comes by faith, appropriates and receives the blessings which
God has for His people and that which Christ has accomplished.
We rejoice in the freedom the freeness of these blessings that
flow to us as our inheritance by the grace and mercy of the
triune God. And all of that is true, and
all of that is important, and all of that is blessed, and all
of that is comforting to our souls as far as it goes. But it's not everything. because
the scriptures go on to speak of believers being united to
Christ in his death, in his burial and his resurrection And repeatedly
the apostles use this great work of Christ to motivate and encourage
and comfort us in our Christian life and in our Christian walk. Turn with me please to Romans
chapter six. Romans chapter six. We're going to read from verse
one. Romans chapter 6 and verse 1. The Apostle Paul has been speaking
in chapter 5 of the source of our justification. We're justified
by the grace of God, we're justified through faith, justified by the
blood of Jesus Christ, faith appropriating the benefits and
the blessings of that justification, which we have seen is a holiness
and a blamelessness that was settled in eternity and finds
its application in time in the lives of the people of God. Paul
asks a question, he anticipates a question. Well, if these people
are justified in God's sight apart from their works, if they're
justified in God's sight without any condition falling upon them,
if they are free and this justification is God's free gift to them, then
that means that they can live however they want. Paul is answering
that question at the beginning of chapter six. What shall we
say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? God forbid, how shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein? Now, I want you, as
I read this, to remember the things that we've spoken about
with regard to our union with Christ, the fact that we are
united to him in his life, in his death, in his resurrection,
and in his ascension, our union and completeness together with
him. What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall
we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not
that so many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised
into his death? Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. But if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead
is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion
over him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. let not sin therefore reign in
your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves
unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members
as the instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have
dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under
grace. What then? Shall we sin because
we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid! Know
ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death,
or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked that ye were
the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form
of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from
sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after
the manner of men, because of the infirmity of your flesh.
For ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to
iniquity, and to iniquity. Even so now yield your members
servants to righteousness and to holiness. For when ye were
the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What
fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For
the end of those things is death. But now being made free from
sin, ye are become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto
holiness, to the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. The union that the elect have
with the Saviour in his sufferings and in his glory is employed
frequently in our New Testament. The union that we have with Christ
in his sufferings, his death, and in his resurrection and glory
is used frequently in the New Testament as motivation and incentive
for believers to serve and dedicate our lives to God's honor and
glory. So the apostle reads. In verse
6, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him. Our old man, our nature, is dead
in Christ. We have to consider that union
that we have with Christ and see it as having a practical
aspect. This is not just a theoretical
notion. It is not just a doctrine that
is revealed in Scripture. It is most certainly that. And
it is most certainly the wonderful work of the Lord Jesus Christ
in accomplishing the salvation of His people. But it has an
impact. It has an effect. It's transformational. It shows us that we are dead
in Christ. Nevertheless, we live, and we
live to His glory. We live according to His direction,
according to His will, His way. As He has given us the gift of
life, we live and seek to serve Him. The old man is crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from
sin. And then in the 11th verse we
see Paul again saying, Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in
your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. The Apostle Paul returns to this
argument again in his letter to the Colossians. He says there
that it is because Christ is dead and raised again that believers
in Him, the children of faith, those who are united to Him,
those who are His people in holiness and blamelessness, they too are
dead, dead in their old man and raised again together with Him. Turn with me please to Colossians
and the third chapter. I want to read just a couple
of verses from the beginning of chapter 3, but let me, as
it were, just paint a little bit of the background to the
opening passage here in Colossians chapter 3. Paul has this theme
of our being dead and raised again together in Christ, dead
to the dominion of sin, dead in the old man. And he brings
that union that we have together in the death and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ to bear in this letter also. If you look
at the 20, go back to chapter one, just flick the page over
to chapter one if you will. In the 21st verse, He says there, and you, that
were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now hath he reconciled. This is the application of the
work of Christ upon the cross. It's not that we were before,
not part, of Christ and now we are part of him. We were eternally
united to him as we have seen, united to him in the choice of
the elective purpose of God, united to him in that betrothal
relationship, united to him in his federal responsibility for
us and united to him as he is pleased to bring us to himself
in his work at the cross. But here we see this union being
applied in the way that we then live in this life. You that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. He goes on in chapter
2, verse 10. And ye are complete in him which
is the head of all principality and power, in whom also ye are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of
Christ. Buried with him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God who hath raised him from the dead. United to Christ, in
union with him, we are dead in him and we are raised together
with him. We are dead to the accusations
of the law. The law has nothing more to do
with us. Why? Because we're dead to the law.
We have died in Christ. The law is satisfied because
he died and took upon himself the culpability, took upon himself
the responsibility, took upon himself the judgment that rightly
flowed to us in the law. And as our federal head, as our
surety, he stood in the place, in the gap, and he bore all that
judgment. The law is satisfied. The law
has no more to say to those who are dead to it. And we reckon
ourselves to be dead to the law because we died in our union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. and we are raised together with
him in newness of life. Now that doesn't mean to say
that there is no sin in the believer's life, but sin no longer has dominion
over us, nor indeed are we answerable for that sin that is yet committed
in the unworthiness of our flesh. For we are a spiritual people
and our righteousness comes as a derived righteousness from
God. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
righteousness. God is himself our righteousness. We seek no righteousness of the
law. The Apostle Paul could speak
of the righteousness of the law. He says, that righteousness,
I consider it to be just a pile of dung. It's not worth anything. The worthlessness of the righteousness
that the law can give is of no value to me, for I have a righteousness
that transcends it, the righteousness which comes from God himself. And in this life, the believers
in Christ, the Lord's own people, are called to walk in the light
of the knowledge of the fact that we are dead to the law in
Christ and we live unto the holiness and blamelessness which God views
us in. We are quickened together in
Him. We see in the opening verses
of chapter three how the apostle continues this. This new life,
this resurrection life is the believer's foretaste. It's the believer's earnest,
as it were, of the eternal life which we will have with God in
glory. And our experience of the eternal
things, though they will be qualitatively better, because we will have
laid down all of the weariness and all of the drag of this old
life and all of the natural flesh and all of the weakness of the
flesh, though it will be qualitatively better once we enter into the
presence of His glory. Yet it is the same life that
we have now. It is the same eternal life that
we experience today. That's our confidence. We cannot
lose that life. It's our life in Christ. We are
raised together in Him. It can never be taken away from
us. We will never lose it, though we sin most grievously in this
life, for that sin is dealt with And the law has no more accusations
to lay against us. We are not going to continue
in sin. We're not going to follow after sin. It has no more dominion
over us. And yet, that life that we live
is still beset with the trials and the tribulations and the
troubles of our natural flesh and the natural man. So Paul
goes on to say, in Colossians chapter three, verse one. If
ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections
on things above, nor on things on the earth. For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our
life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. In John 5, verse 24, the Lord
Jesus says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my
word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life,
and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto
life. There is therefore no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. There is no law against us. There is no accusation can be
laid against us. We are dead to those accusations
and we live to Christ. So says Paul, if ye be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above. Here, activity
is called for. There is a passivity as far as
the individual is concerned. in salvation. There is no activity
of the individual sinner as far as salvation is concerned. But
here we are called upon to be engaged, to be active, to be
employed, to seek after certain things. Seek those things, says
Paul, which are above. That is, the things that come
from above, the things that are revealed from on high. Seek after those things. Seek
after Christ. Seek after the things that Christ
has taught. Seek after the things that Christ
has revealed and accomplished for us. Salvation by God's grace
through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is emphasizing
here that the believer's good, the believer's blessedness, the
believer's comfort, the believer's help, the believer's encouragement,
the believer's motivation comes alone by the Lord Jesus Christ. and we are to seek that comfort
in Him. We are to seek that encouragement
in Him. He has accomplished all things
and in the face of the trials and the problems and the issues
and the weaknesses of our flesh and the pilgrim walk in which
we have to travel and all of the dark things that are thrown
against us as His church, we are to seek the blessedness that
flows through Him. This world has no longer any
power over us, it no longer has any accusation to lay against
us. As we are united with Christ
we are dead in Him and risen in Him and He is the source of
our every blessing. So we seek after Him, we don't
look to ourselves, we don't look to our works, we don't endeavour
to be more pleasing, more improved, to change a new leaf, to put
behind us the old ways and to turn a new way to follow after
Him, as if in some way God is more pleased with us because
of our works and our actions, which He regards as good and
holy, or less pleased with us because of our failures and our
troubles and our fall. but rather to see that we are
whole in Him, complete in Him, and everything that is needful
in this walk and life as believers is accomplished by Christ. That
is where we are to find our comfort. That is where we find our solace
in the face of the trials of this life. Seeking those things
which are above. Paul emphasises this because
this is where the believers good comes from. They do not flow
from our efforts, from our labours, from our works of the law. These
are the things that Paul talks about in the 20th verse of the
previous chapter. He says, Wherefore, if ye be
dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, Why, as though
living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances? There's nothing
that this world can lay upon us as an obligation, because
we are dead to the rudiments of this world, and we are alive
in Christ, in the newness of life, everlasting life, which
he has given us. These are the weak things, the
weak rudiments of the world. It's possible, it is possible
to get temporary comfort from our own works. It is possible
to get temporary consolation from legal ordinances. And that's what very many people
are experiencing in these days. The highs and the lows of obedience
and disobedience. They get comfort and consolation
when they feel as if they have worked positively and done good
things. And they come into depression
and despondency when they feel as if they have failed and fallen
short of the rules and regulations that have been placed upon them.
They become open to the blackmailing of those religious orders and
leaders who would endeavor to place them under legal obligation,
works obligation, conduct obligation, as far as their union with churches
and fellowship is concerned. These are the rudiments of the
world. These are the weak and beggarly elements. This is no
place for the believer to find his comfort. There's no consolation
in this to those who are dead to these things. Our comfort,
our consolation comes in seeking those things which are above,
seeking them in Christ himself. Many willingly desire to be in
bondage. But these elements of the world,
they refer to material things, they refer to timely things,
they refer to things that are temporal and physical and of
this world around about us. They do not refer to the spiritual
things which energise and motivate the Lord's people who have everlasting
life in Him, who are dead to these old ways and who now rejoice
in the new life that we live in Christ. These were weak things
which had no power to save us, even when we had lived our best,
even when we had done as much as could be expected of us, even
when, like the Apostle Paul, we could say as far as the law
was concerned we were perfect. There was nothing in them to
give us comfort and consolation of a spiritual nature. And the
Apostle Paul, one who was taught in all of these things, taught
in the highest revelation of God's law to man, knew that he
had no value in them. There is no power in them to
rescue from condemnation. They could not save us from sin
then, and they cannot equip us for the presence of God now. The contrast is with the spiritual
blessings that are in heavenly places and we in Christ have
been raised with Him and ascended with Him, to such an extent that
we are considered by God already to be seated together with Him
in heavenly places. When God looks at His people
in Christ, He sees them already seated together in heavenly places
with Him. That's the condition. They are
a holy and blameless people. They are a justified people.
There is no condemnation against them anymore. Therein is our
comfort. pardon, peace, righteousness,
eternal life and glory, the doctrines and the privileges that come
and flow from heaven to us, the preaching of the gospel that
tells us the good news of God's work in Christ for our redemption,
the fellowship of the saints in which we join together in
a knowledge of that union which we have with Him and rejoice
in it together, the gospel ordinances the communion that we share,
the remembrance services, the baptism which identifies us together
as the Lord's people. These are the things that we
look to, these are the things that we rejoice in, these are
the things that speak to us of the comfort that we have. That
is why our church fellowship is so important to us, because
we come together to engage with one another in the blessedness
of the things that Christ has accomplished for us. We are supported,
we are helped along the pilgrim way, we are given spiritual instruction
and we have a foretaste of that heavenly life as we join together
in the fellowship of the new life of those who have been raised
together in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, let us not be preoccupied
with the things of this world. It's a purposeful application. Set your affections on the things
that are above. Set your affections on these
spiritual truths. Let this be the passion of your
life. These old lusts of the flesh,
they have no longer any control or dominion over us. Our eyes
are fixed upon something altogether higher, altogether more glorious. So Paul says to the Philippians
in the fourth chapter, verse 8, Brethren, whatsoever things
are true, Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are
just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue,
if there be any praise, Think on these things. These are the
heavenly things. These are the things of Christ.
These are the things of the work of God and the accomplishment
of salvation. This is true honesty, true justice,
true purity, true loveliness revealed amongst men. This is
the thing which is of good report, of the greatest report, of the
highest report. The very Gospel of Jesus Christ. In Him there is virtue. In Him there is praise. Think on these things. Mind them. Don't neglect them.
Favour them above the things of this world. Favour them above
the things that this world favours. Approve of them. Support them.
Be concerned for them. Treasure them in your heart. be protective of them as we come
together and share together in fellowship in them. The Lord
says in Luke chapter 12, where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also. Our treasure is not upon earth.
It is not in the applause of this world. It is not in the
standards of this world. It is not in the pleasure that
this world gives to us. It's not in its riches, nor in
the temptation of earthly things. It's not in the physical or the
sensual or the ritual or the ceremonial things. It is not
in ourselves, but it is in Him, and it is where He is in heaven. The third verse that we read
in Colossians chapter 3 says, For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. Here's the contrast. We are dead. We are dead in Him. Naturally,
we are alive in this world, but we are dead to the world, because
He died in the world and we died with Him. Dead in sins, but quickened
by grace. Dead to the law, but alive in
Christ. Dead to sin and its dominion
over us. Dead to its damning power upon
us. because he bore it in his body
on the tree for us, dead to the world by his cross, having died
there with him. And as dead men in this world,
we have nothing to do with this world. We're strangers. We're
pilgrims in a foreign country. We are looking for a city. We're
heading away. We're on the march. We are looking
to these heavenly things that are set before us. And we will
not be entangled again with the loves and the passions of this
world. We are living men in a dead world. and we are pressing on in that
hope which Christ has given us. Perhaps we should think more
emphatically than that, that though we have nothing to do
with this world, actually this world has nothing to do with
us. There's nothing in this world
that can satisfy us now that we are Christ's. Our life is
hid with Him. We are raised together in Him. and we are united to Him in that
resurrection. It's not that Christ is hidden. It is hid in the sense that it
is invisible. And that's the nature of our
spiritual life. The thing is that if the world
were to look on us, it wouldn't see anything different than it
would if it looked upon someone else. We don't glow in the dark. We don't have a face that is
always bright and cheery. We know the troubles of this
life like everyone else. We feel the weight of our bodies
like everyone else. We know what it is to be sick.
We know what it is to be downcast. We know what it is to be depressed
at times, and the challenges and the fears of this world,
they can have an impact against us. We know these things. It's
not that these things are superficial and worn on the outside like
a coat. There are some people trying
to do that. We need not name names, you know,
the kind of religion, the kind of faith that that is. It says everything's bright and
everything's good and we're Christians and there's nothing can bring
us down. That's not what it is. Our lives
are hid in Christ. The spirituality of our life,
the relationship that we have with him, it's not an overt thing,
it's not an obvious thing, it's a hidden thing, it's a spiritual
thing, and it is of faith. It's not in an outward show,
nor is it in our self-righteousness. It's not in the way in which
we live. It's not seen of men. It's not what men desire to possess. It's not the things that they
see or they understand. It's the life of faith. And that
life of faith looks to Christ. It looks to what He has done.
And it sees that in His work is everything that we need. and
therein lies the quiet contentedness of our Christian walk in this
life. John 14 verse 27 says, Peace
I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. That's the difference. Our experiences
in this world can be troubling. Our experiences can be fearful. But the bottom line is that our
contentedness and our peace as the Lord's people transcends
even these problems that we have to face in time. We have a peace We have a peace that goes beyond
the here and the now, for it lays hold upon the spiritual
realities and the divine truth and the heavenly revelation. It lays hold upon Christ and
his accomplishments at the cross. It is hid because it is safely
laid up. Man who has a precious gem may
not entrust it to a bank. He may wonder how he can protect
it. So he finds a place, a secret
place, to put it and to hide it away. And he hopes that no
one will find it there. He makes that place secure. He defends that place where his
prize is laid up and he hides it away from view. In that sense,
we are hidden in Christ. We are safe. We are secure. He has hidden us away because
he has taken that responsibility of protecting and safeguarding
that which he considers to be most precious. He thinks I'm
precious. He loves me and he thinks I'm
precious and he has hidden me away from the full exposure of
the wickedness and the dominion of Satan in this world. He safeguards
me. He puts up a wall around me. He sets up a fortress. He is
that fortress and he keeps me safe. behind the walls of his
defence. We are hidden in him because
he values us and he considers us precious. We are his jewels,
his precious possession and he loves us. Naturally speaking,
we are encouraged to take hold upon that truth and to walk in
this life in consideration of it. In Matthew 6, verse 31, the
Lord says, take no thought, saying, what shall we eat or what shall
we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all
these things do the Gentiles seek, For your heavenly Father
knoweth ye have need of all these things. The Lord knows what you
need. Don't be perturbed about these
things. I speak to myself. I speak to
myself first before I speak to you. Don't be perturbed about
these things. The Lord knows what you need.
His provision is sufficient for all your needs. In Psalm 116,
verse 15, he says, precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints. Even our very dying in this world
is under the care of our loving Father. We are precious to Him
in life, and He provides for all our needs, and we are precious
to Him in our death, and He will take us safely to Himself. What do I need fear? Why should
I worry? But that's just on the natural
level. On the spiritual level, we see
that our lives are hid with Him. Our eternal life is with Him. It is His to give. And once it
is given, it is never withdrawn. He has given life to his people,
united with him in death, united with him in resurrection. He
is the source of our new life. He is the fountainhead of everlasting
life. And living water bubbles up from
the heart and soul of those whom he is pleased to touch and call
his own. He has conquered death. It is
a defeated foe, and it holds no fear. fear for his people. In John 17, verse 2, the Lord
says, As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. That is, as many as were given
to him in the elective purpose of God. As many as were given
to him to safeguard and protect in this covenant of grace. As many as were given to Him
that He should bring them holy and blameless into the presence
of His Father, He has given them eternal life and none will take
them out of His hand. Not only With Christ have we
that life, but we have it with God the Father. Not only is our
natural life hid in Him, where we live and move and have our
being in this life, but also our spiritual life is hid and
precious and safe in Him. John, 1 John chapter 5 verse
11, the apostle writes, and this is the record that God hath given
to us eternal life. and this life is in his son. I give unto them eternal life,
they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John
chapter 10, verse 28, following. And so we see, in conclusion,
In Colossians chapter 3 verse 4, when Christ who is our life
shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. Here is the great application
of our union with Christ. He is coming back Soon He is
coming back. He is coming back to take His
church with Him to glory. He is coming back to take that
bride which He loves to Himself in the great consummation of
that marriage feast of the Lamb. He is coming back to deliver
us out of this wicked world and translate us into the presence
of His Father with exceeding joy. He is coming back, He who
is our life. When He shall appear, then shall
ye also appear with Him in glory. That's our union. And that union
so thrills us, so encourages and comforts and calms us and
pleases us as we think on all that He has done. that we await
with eagerness and enthusiasm the manifestation of His coming,
that we might be with Him and like Him for all eternity. This
is our pleasure. This is our hope. We who are united to Christ,
live to the glory of his name, seek to serve and honour him
in this life, seek to give him the praise that is due for all
that he has accomplished, and thank him from the depths of
our heart with sincere gratitude of faith that he has united us
to him, dealt with every need that we have, and has promised
to come and take us to himself. then shall he also appear with
him in glory. May that be our hope and may
we understand something of the meaning of that in these days
in which we live. Let's have a word of prayer and
then we're finished. Almighty God, we thank Thee for
the great privileges of sonship, great privileges of adoption
into the family of God. We thank Thee for the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into this world, laid down His
life for the redemption of His people, and has brought us safe
as a holy, unblameable people unto Thee. We thank Thee for
the work of the Holy Spirit that opens spiritual truth. We thank thee for the efficacious
grace of God which accomplishes its purpose and brings the wandering
pilgrim, the wandering sheep, unto thee in time. As we have
been blessed to reflect upon this great work of salvation,
So cause it to be the ground of our hope, the ground of our
trust and faith and confidence in Thee. And tomorrow morning
when we get up and on Monday morning when our week begins,
help us to see that all that we are and all that we have is
to be found in the comfortable reassurance that the Lord Jesus
Christ has accomplished everything for our deliverance and we are
alive in Him. We bless Thee for Thy faithfulness
to us. We thank Thee for all Thy gifts
and goodness. We pray for Thy protection as
we return to our homes this evening. Bring us under the sound of Thy
word again in the morning if it be Thy will. Take glory to
Thy name, our great and glorious God, our precious Saviour. For
Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen.